City Lakes Real Estate Blog

Comparing Honey Crisps to Braeburns One of the more quizzical looks Realtors get is when they (try to) explain to a prospective home Seller that their neighbor’s house isn’t a “Comp” (Comparable Sold Property). In plain English: it isn’t relevant ” at least directly ” for pricing their home. For the uninitiated, a Comp is...Read More

Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder Buyer When should a listing agent (representing the Seller) explicitly acknowledge in their marketing that a home “needs cosmetic updates” (or the equivalent)? Less often than you might guess. Here are my three reasons why: One. The pictures tell the story. For years, real estate websites have allowed an unlimited...Read More

Savvy Buyers making an offer on a newly remodeled home want to make sure they’re not inheriting a liability from their Seller. Specifically, they’ll want evidence that the Seller has paid all their contractors in full. The evidence? A legal release — called a “lien waiver” — that the contractors execute once they’ve been paid....Read More

When Subjectivity Isn’t Just Superficial If the Comp’s aren’t convincing enough, Realtor “Jane Doe” will take Sellers on tours of comparable properties. “They can see this other house is in much better condition, and it’s priced $20,000 less than theirs. It’s eye-opening.” –Spokane agent, sharing her strategy for working with unrealistic Sellers in “Setting Them Straight”; Realtor Magazine. ...Read More

Getting One Out of Three Right We’re in Minnesota, so here’s the weather forecast: the rest of April: cold; May: cold; June: cold; July: somehow hot as hell. Back to y’all.” –Saturday Night Live; cold open (April 10, 2021). As a Minnesota native and long-time Twin Cities resident, I can attest to the “perpetually cold”...Read More